Current methods to harvest and handle switchgrass, other grasses, forages, fiber crops and crop residues for feeding to animals or use in industrial applications on a commercial scale involve conventional hay making procedures, including baling into big round bales. However, in order to facilitate feeding into an energy plant and efficient conversion to energy, bales need to be ground up into a particulate format. This is an energy-intensive operation that also requires control of particulate pollution. Also forage choppers are used for harvesting moist forage which has a moisture content greater than 40%, such as silage or haylage. A more efficient method of harvesting and handling grasses and forages when they are drier than this would result in lower cost and faster production.